Cybersecurity for Lawyers Who Don’t Want to Be Headlines

Today, effective cybersecurity for lawyers and law firms depends more on disciplined execution of core principles than on flashy tools. Four tough questions to ask about your cybersecurity strategy.

Lawyers value precedent, accuracy and procedure. However, in cybersecurity, many firms handle it as if defending a parking ticket — only dealing with it when necessary.

Attackers see poor security as a low-risk, high-reward opportunity. Most breaches are not sophisticated; they succeed by exploiting basic mistakes.

Start With the Basics: Cyber Hygiene Still Matters

Despite all the talk about Zero Trust and artificial intelligence, most breaches still begin with simple issues such as unpatched systems, weak identity controls and unrestricted access. Firms must maintain a clear inventory of systems and data, segment networks to limit lateral movement, enforce firewall rules to restrict traffic, and implement monitoring to identify abnormal behavior early.

For lawyers, this reflects traditional due diligence: understanding your assets, knowing who has access, and patching vulnerabilities before others find them. Multifactor authentication, phishing-resistant sign-ins, and enforced VPNs are essential security measures, not optional extras. Relying solely on antivirus software does not constitute cybersecurity; it’s an optimistic illusion of control.

Retire Legacy Technology Before It Retires You

In legal practice, relying on outdated precedent is malpractice. In cybersecurity, running outdated technology is an open invitation to attackers. Firms must eliminate deprecated protocols, enforce secure DNS, properly authenticate email, and move beyond username-and-password logins that attackers defeat daily.

Security debt compounds just like financial debt. Legacy systems may still function, but every outdated service creates a vulnerability. Keeping insecure technology because “it still works” is no different from allowing someone to practice law without a license. Eventually, the risk catches up.

Stop Chasing IP Addresses and Start Identifying Behavior

Blocking an IP address feels productive, but it rarely solves the problem. Modern attackers constantly rotate infrastructure. Effective defense requires correlating activity across email, endpoints and networks, identifying malicious behavior even when it initially appears legitimate, and adapting defenses as attackers change tactics.

For lawyers advising on governance or risk, this underscores a hard truth. Cybersecurity is not a one-time purchase. Like litigation strategy, cybersecurity for lawyers and law firms requires continuous reassessment as the threat landscape evolves.

Collaboration and Learning Are Not Optional

Cyber-defense fails in silence. Organizations that hide incidents, near misses or internal mistakes guarantee repetition. Firms should treat cybersecurity lessons the same way they handle legal losses:

• Review what happened.
• Share the findings.
• Improve processes.

Applied to law firm culture, this means regular training, after-action reviews, and open discussion across teams. A firm that conceals a near breach is no different from one that hides an adverse ruling. The truth always surfaces later, usually at a higher cost.

What Lawyers Should Do Now: 4 Questions

Even if you’re not the CISO, you bear responsibility for client confidentiality, data security and fulfilling your ethical duty of competence. Cybersecurity should influence vendor agreements, internal controls, incident response plans, and client advisories. Challenge yourself with tough questions:

1. Do we truly know our systems and access points?
2. Are we accepting weak authentication for convenience?
3. Do we catch threats early or only after harm is done?
4. Are we adapting and learning faster than attackers?

If these questions remain unanswered or unclear, then your cybersecurity approach isn’t a strategy, but rather more of a gamble.

The Bottom Line on Cybersecurity for Lawyers

Today, cybersecurity for lawyers and law firms focuses more on effective implementation than on innovation. Firms and organizations that master the fundamentals, remove outdated vulnerabilities, use behavior-based detection methods, and foster a culture of ongoing learning will be better prepared for the inevitable next incident.

Hackers act without waiting for permission, and courts rarely accept “we didn’t know” as a valid defense.

Michael C. Maschke is President and Chief Executive Officer of Sensei Enterprises, Inc. He is an EnCase Certified Examiner (EnCE), Certified Computer Examiner (CCE #744), AccessData Certified Examiner (ACE), Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). He is a frequent speaker on IT, cybersecurity and digital forensics, and he has co-authored 14 books published by the American Bar Association.

Sharon D. Nelson is the co-founder of and a consultant to Sensei Enterprises. She is a past president of the Virginia State Bar, the Fairfax Bar Association and the Fairfax Law Foundation. She is a co-author of 18 books published by the ABA.

John W. Simek is the co-founder of and a consultant to Sensei Enterprises. He holds multiple technical certifications and is a nationally known digital forensics expert. He is a co-author of 18 books published by the American Bar Association.

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